Ashley Woods (City Girls)
Ashley Woods is a fictional character from London based drama series City Girls created by Hannah. Ashley is represented by actress Julie Marie Berman . ''Julie Marie Berman ''made her breakthrough into acting as Shelby Connor on 7th Heaven, she went onto star in film Vanished Without A Trace and guest starred on shows such as ER and Boston Public before joining the cast of General Hospital as Lulu Spencer. Julie was first nominated for Outstanding Younger Actress in 2007 and then won the award in 2009 and 2010. In 2013, Julie won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Lulu. After leaving General Hospital in 2013, Julie has guest starred in Two and a Half Men and starred in Christmas movie The March Sisters at Christmas. You can follow actress Julie Marie Berman on Twitter . Casting When planning began back in 2008 for the new London based drama series, there were many casting ideas for the three main roles of Izzie, Holly and Ashley. The actresses considered for the role of Ashley were Loui Bately (Hollyoaks) and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (The Bold & The Beautiful) Days of our Lives' actresses Shelley Hennig and Rachel Melvin had already been cast so the role of Ashley was given to Days' Kristen Renton, but creator Hannah admits that she often had trouble seeing Kristen in the role of Ashley. During City Girls' original run, the character of Ashley was recast at the beginning of Season Four and General Hospital's Julie Marie Berman took over the role. As City Girls debuted on Writer's Express, Julie portrayed the role of Ashley from the beginning. Characterisation and Backstory Ashley had a more structured and sheltered childhood than either of her friends and this has led to Ashley's selfish attitude towards life. There are lots of words to describe Ashley including vain and self loving, but underneath the layers and layers of self admiration lies a heart of gold. Ashley grew up with her hotel owner parents Michael and Emma Woods, the couple spoilt their only child and this had led to Ashley's love for the finer things in life. However, Ashley lives with the worry of suffering with the same fate as her grandmother who spent most of her adult life in a psychiatric hospital. Season One Ashley let herself fall into charming modelling agent Sean Carver's arms and dreamt of the lavish lifestyle he could offer her. But it soon came apparant that the lifestyle he was offering came at a price. Ashley found herself confronted with a man Sean had arranged to pay to spend time with Ashley. In a shocking twist Ashley went along with the arrangement and soon stepped out on her own as a prostitute. Holly and Ashley's storylines soon interwined together. In another shocking twist, which led to another special two hander episode, this time between Holly and Ashley. It was revealed that one of Ashley's clients Simon was in fact Shane, the father of Holly's baby. Ashley blew Holly's world apart with this news leading to an explosive confrontation and a fall down the stairs for Holly. Ashley's meeting with her client Oscar led to a dramatic accident as his wife threw a cup of coffee in Ashley's face leading to a very serious facial injury. Jack gave everything up to pay for Ashley's plastic surgery, she awoke from her surgery with a somewhat confused view of Jack- she now believed she was in love with him. But despite, being in love with her for years, Jack had now found love with the inapproriate Sammy. Blaming Sean for a fire that almost killed Holly, Ashley confronted him, but when he tried to rape her. Ashley lashed out with a vase, leaving us not knowing whether or not she had killed Sean. Season Two Ashley Woods, with the help of Sean Carver's neighbour Drew Tyler, escaped Sean's clutches and she left him alive. Ashley decided to build a new life for herself, but when she went for a job interview at the nightclub Destiny, she found that it was owned by Drew. It soon comes apparant that there is something not quite right about Drew and his past with Sean. Drew not only had a past with Sean, but he also had a connection to Sammy, which soon became obvious when Sammy attempted to seduce him, leading to a battle between Ashley and Sammy. In spite, Ashley ended revealing all about Jack and Holly's one night stand leading Sammy to take revenge by sleeping with Drew. Ashley's struggle with Body Dysmorphic Disorder led her to take solace in cocaine supplied by Sean, this caused friction between her and Drew. After finding Ashley high on drugs, Drew walked away from her and into Sammy's bed. After their break up, a shocking twist led to Drew sleeping with Ashley's best friend Izzie. Season Three The season opened with a special episode which Ashley Woods talked to her counsellor about her issues with BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) and her addiction to cocaine. She recalls her experience of witnessing a young girl die from a drugs overdose, this forced Ashley to change her lifestyle. The guilt of her one night stand with Drew soon got too much for Izzie and she admied all to Max. Max lashed out at Drew leading the truth to come out in front of Ashley, Holly and Jack. Ashley refused to forgive both Izzie and Drew. Ashley was devastated to find Drew's body, despite everything, she still loved him. She was even more devastated to find she was a suspect and after Sean paid a fake witness, Ashley was arrested for murder. Ashley's friendship with Izzie was repaired after Izzie found out that Sean killed Drew and Jen Tyler and Ashley was finally released from prison. In a season finale twist, it was revealed that one of the girls was pregnant. Season Four Season Four saw Ashley come into her own as a night club owner she inherited Destiny from Drew. Taking Ashllie's into her hands, Ashley hired Chris Halliday as an assistant manager. The pair struggled to date especially after free spirit Ashley discovered Chris had a daughter. But that wasn't Chris' only secret as it was revealed that Chris was actually working for the dark, dangerous Tony Luciano in attempt to ruin Ashllie's reputation and force her to sell the club. In a surprising twist, Chris approached Ashley after losing everything and asked her to run away with him to avoid a custody battle for daughter Emily against her mother Amanda Samuels. Ashley realised that she wasn't in love with Chris and let him leave without her. Season Five Season Five is due to begin in June 2014, it is set four years after the Season Four Finale. Only Shelley Hennig (Izzie), Rachel Melvin (Holly) and Julie Marie Berman (Ashley) have been confirmed to return.